2010-08-18: A Painful Lesson
Summary: Catwoman's failed attempt at doing the right thing results in a painful lesson from Batgirl. Location: Charon - Gotham Participants: Batgirl and Catwoman Rating: PG-13 for momentary language and violence It's bordering on the time of night where only Bats, Cats and criminals are out, it being close to three o'clock in the morning if not past. Catwoman has been here at least an hour, perched upon the roof of one of the larger mausoleums. Post-heist, she has already stashed her half of the stolen drug money in a safe location and left it to be dealt with. The new, young, and darker Batgirl, the one with the full-face mask moves up behind Selina, now. She'd spotted the feline foister of philanthropic nature a little awhile ago and watched her silently from the shadows for a time. Only now does she emerge, attempting to silently sneak up to the Catwoman, and - well, do something. Cassandra's presence escapes Catwoman's notice much like it had the other night when she had seen Batman and her talking, Batgirl able to watch her and even listen in as she starts to talk to herself. "He's not going to believe me," she starts while reaching up, scratching a cheek while she muses over her possible woes-to-be. "He is going to hate me," she then adds abruptly. Cassandra will hear the emotion in her voice, it actually quivering with nerves. "Afraid," comes a young woman's voice, thick with - some kind of strange twist on the words. The sounds coming slow, if not sure. As if English were not a language the girl was familiar with. Her slender frame emerges out from the shadows, within easy movement to stop Catwoman, or spar with her, or - even take her down. She moves with an assurity that few have, Selina and Bruce among them. Fearless, herself. The head beneath the mask tilts, birdlike. Or, maybe batlike. "Fear. Hate. Love. Why?" There is nothing to indicate that Catwoman's going to start anything, there being no fight in her this evening. All of her anger spent on those drug buyers on the ship, Selina's fairly well spent. Batgirl's arrival and following question has her blinking, surprised and it takes her a moment to figure out what it is she is being asked. "They are part of human nature, I suppose," she starts only to fall short, not sure if that is what Batgirl is asking. "It's just how people are. Why do you ask?" Gesturing, Cassandra moves forwards, though she does not seem to be indicating she is going to fight the other woman, yet, either. "Hide. Fear. What? Why?" The words come short, chopped, paused, as she has to think of each expression she wants to actually verbalize. "Because to show fear is to put yourself at risk. You have to hide fear otherwise you'll get chewed up and spit out." Catwoman rises and approaches Batgirl, her motions and demeanor benign. Non-threatening. "You don't feel fear, do you," she asks after her answer, prompted to by how the female Bat is behaving. "No." That answer is easy enough. There's really very little she does fear. And those things that she might be scared of, she simply hasn't experienced, yet. "Why 'He will hate me for this.'?" She echoes, then, calling, slowly, to vocal clarity the words spoken. Sure, she's parroting. She understood what they meant, of course. The body language made it clear enough picture, to go with the words. Apparently she's learned some at least respect for Catwoman, and that simply pummeling the woman wouldn't make Batman happy. That, and - well, she's honestly perplexed by the behaviour she saw the other night. "You're lucky. Fear is not good. It's like a cancer. Consumes you. Makes you weak and sometimes it even kills you." Reaching up, she runs the back of her hand across her cheek, her expression thoughtful. "I did something that I think he'd want me to do but...I don't know. Part of me thinks the Bat will never approve of me no matter how much I try to change." Taking a deep breath, she has to slow down and get herself under control before she gets over-taken by her emotions which are close to boiling over as it is. "Confused." Cassandra seems to agree - perhaps both about emotions, and about Bruce. Or maybe just one of those. Which, it might be harder to pinpoint. "Did what?" Yes. She's curious. Nosy, even. But, on the other hand, at least she's not trying to fight to find out. At least, not yet. Catwoman can't help but to smile. She might be doing most of the talking but it feels good to be able to do so as it is getting the weight off of her shoulders. Add to that the fact that Batgirl keeps hitting things pretty dead on when it comes to assessments of how she's feeling which helps her to see it all a bit more clearly. "Very confused, yes." When she is asked what she did she looks directly into the masked cowl, her way of looking her conversation partner in the eye. "I did what he said I should do. I played Robin Hood. The money that was stolen off of the cargo ship tonight? It was drug money. It was going to be used to buy drugs." Hopefully that won't get her backside kicked. Oddly, Cassandra could care less about the return of the money. Who has it. Or, where it even went. She nods, in practical fashion. A hand gesture is made, and then a curious glance as she silently inquires if all the supposed drug dealers were incapacitated, and captured. The gesture gets an immediate response from Catwoman, it being in the form of a low groan and a wince. Not being used to fighting crime, she forgot that part of it. "It didn't even dawn on me to do that," she admits sheepishly. "Dammit." Darting a gaze in the direction where the waterfront is, she considers going back out to clean up the mess she left but that is dismissed as being too dangerous. "Sorry." -That- is what earns an aggressive stance from Batgirl. The fact the criminals were let to run free. Hurt other people. Take advantage, of other people. She stalks up to Catwoman, and at least attempts, to chop the other masked person right on the bridge of the nose with a forceful chop. Not -too- hard, mind. Not hard enough to break bone, or give Selina a bloody nose if she's successful in the speed, and delivery of the 'attack'. But, enough to smart. "Focus," she instructs, with a disapproving tone that sounds perturbed. She's fast but not /that/ fast, especially when caught unaware so the attack hits and, with a sickening crunch, the blood starts to flow. Cussing, Catwoman closes her eyes and cups her nose with a hand, that in effort to staunch the flow of blood. "Give me a break," she hisses out while peeking one eye open after the initial explosion of pain passes, a half-glare. "I am new to this. Shit!" Turning her head, Catwoman spits a bit of blood that has collected in the back of her throat, the dirt stained crimson. Not that Cassandra is exactly remorseful her hit didn't go off as lightly as planned. "Break," Cassandra agrees. "Pain." She does not attack again, nor does she back off. Instead, she slams her fist into an open palm. "Pain like drugs." Selina's a smart cookie - and should be able to parse, eventually, that Cassandra is referencing that the drug dealers will just cause more pain on the streets. She turns, and begins moving off back into the night, not even saying goodbye. Or, for that matter, that she's sorry. "Yeah, thanks for that lesson," is snarked at Cassandra's back while Catwoman glares at her, her head exploding with that throbbing ache which is anything but dull. If she's lucky it'll taper off to a subtle headache but with that probably won't happen without the aid of some pain medication and an ice pack. Category:Logs